Automatically adjustable paint roller construction



Dec. 24, 1957 A. A. ZELLINGER AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTABLE PAINT ROLLER CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 26, 1955 RR a w mm V H in wig "w 4. 7 2% V SMITH, Owuvd/(arrs A TTORNEVS United States Patent AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTABLE PAINT ROLLER CONSTRUCTION Adam A. Zellinger, Detroit, Mich.

Application October 26, 1955, Serial No. 542,920

4 Claims. (Cl. 15-144) The present invention relates to an improved paint roller construction, and more particularly to such a paint roller construction which permits the rollers to be adjusted to various positions with respect to the handle.

Paint rolling devices are well known in the art. These devices have gained increasing popularity over the conventional paint brush because of the speed with which they can be used and the ease with which they can ordinarily be handled. However, in many instances painters prefer to use a paint brush when there are obstructions to circumvent in the space being painted. This is because apaint roller is diflicult to use in such situations since the handle must be held straight out from the roller. It is evident that in such circumstances, a ladder must be used to reach spots that are above shoulder height in order to apply the roller flat against the surface being painted with any degree of ease and effectiveness.

Another difliculty which is encountered with conventional paint roller constructions is the fact that the roller cannot be used to paint a wall close to the point where it joins the ceiling without using a ladder. When a ladder is used, a small portion is painted, and then it is necessary for the painter to get off the ladder, move the ladder, climb the ladder again and paint another strip. This, of course, is tiring and time-consuming.

Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved paint roller construction which is versatile, and which can be used to paint difficult places without additional equipment such as a ladder.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such a paint roller which is simple in construction, and which can be manufactured and sold at relatively low cost.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a paint roller construction wherein the roller is movable relative to the handle so that it will automatically move to various attitudes with respect to the handle and return to its initial position, and wherein the roller may also be adjusted to various fixed positions relative to the handle as desired.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a paint roller embodying the construction of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of the handle, roller bracket and spring in normal position, the displaced position of the roller bracket and spring being shown in phantom.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the construction shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of a wall and an object afiixed thereto, demonstrating the paint roller of the present invention in use.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of a wall and a ceiling,

2,817,107 Patented Dec. 24, 1957 ice demonstrating the paint roller of the present invention in use to paint the wall closely adjacent the ceiling.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring to the drawings, the paint roller of the present invention includes a handle 10 with a hand grip 12 at one end and an eyelet 14 formed at the other end. A finger 16 is aflixed to the handle intermediate the eyelet and the hand grip by any suitable means such as solder- 1ng.

A roller bracket 18 is provided which comprises a substantially U-shaped clip having aligned holes in the legs 17 and 19 thereof. These aligned holes are placed one on each side of the eyelet 14 on the end of handle 10 in the assembled position, and a bolt 20 is inserted through the legs 17 and 19 of the bracket 18 and the eyelet 14 on handle 10. A wing nut 22 is disposed in threaded engagement on the bolt 20.

A flange 24 is formed on the leg 17 of bracket 18. A coil spring 26 is disposed between the flange 24 and the finger 16 in the assembled position as particularly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings.

A substantially U-shaped axle frame 28 having an axle portion and a fastening portion 29 is also provided. The fastening portion 29 is substantially parallel to and shorter than the axle portion. The fastening portion 29 is affixed to bracket 18 in any suitable manner such as soldering. The axle portion extends through end hubs such as the end hub 30 shown in Fig. 1 to rotatably seat the paint ing roller 32. The painting roller is of the conventional type utilizing a woolen surface or the like. The end of the axle is threaded and the bolt 34 is turned into the end of the axle to hold the roller in place. A retainer (not shown) is positioned on the axle portion a predetermined distance from the end thereof to maintain the roller in position and keep it from sliding laterally on the axle portion.

Thus, it Will be seen that the bracket 18 with the roller 32 afiixed thereto through the axle frame 28 can rotate relative to handle 10 when the wing nut 22 is loosened. The coil spring 26 however will tend to automatically return the bracket and roller to the normal position when the force moving them from the normal position has been removed.

Referring to Fig. 4 of the drawings, a wall W is shown having an obstruction such as a permanent bookshelf O aflixed thereto. When the obstruction O is encountered while painting wall W, the handle 10 is merely rotated to a comfortable position, and the roller 32 is maintained flat against the wall above the obstruction, as shown. This avoids the necessity of attempting to apply pressure to the roller with the handle in the straight out position when the obstruction extends to a height which would render such position uncomfortable.

Fig. 5 of the drawings demonstrates the device in use when painting a wall close to its juncture with the ceiling. It is difficult to paint this portion of the wall with the conventional roller. When the conventional roller is used, it is necessary to use a ladder and move the same along as the wall is painted. As shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, the paint roller of the present invention has been adjusted so that the roller 32 is substantially parallel to the handle 10. After being adjusted to this position, the wing nut 22 has been tightened on bolt 20. Thus, the roller is maintained in the position shown with respect to the handle. In this position, the user can walk along beside the wall and paint very close to the ceiling juncture without the use of a ladder.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided an improved paint roller construction which is versatile and easy to use even in places which are ordinarily diflicult to paint. The device is simple in construction and has a long trouble-free service life.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A paint roller construction, comprising a handle, a bracket pivotally afiixed to said handle, an axle frame extending from said bracket and having an axle portion thereon, a paint applying roller rotatably disposed on said axle portion, the paint applying roller normally being substantially perpendicular to said handle, the connection between said bracket and said handle being such that said axle portion and roller can pivot to a. non-perpendicular position with respect to said handle, and means to hold said handle and roller in a substantially perpendicular relationship in the normal position and to automatically return the same to such position after displacement therefrom, said paint applying roller automatically adjusting itself to different attitudes with respect to said handle so that surfaces which are normally difficult to paint can be quickly and easily covered.

2. A paint roller construction as claimed in claim 1 wherein simple and readily usable means is provided to selectively hold the paint applying roller in any desired adjusted position with respect to said handle, thereby permitting the paint applying roller to maintain a predetermined position when such position is necessary to cover a substantial area which is ordinarily difiicult to paint with a roller.

3. A paint roller construction, comprising a handle, a bracket pivotally aflixed to one end of said handle, an axle frame extending from said bracket and having an axle portion thereon, a paint applying roller rotatably disposed on said axle portion, a coil spring aflixed at one end to said bracket and at the other end to said handle, said coil spring lying closely adjacent and substantially parallel to said handle in the normal position, said paint applying roller normally being disposed in a position substantially perpendicular to said handle, pivotal movement of said handle with respect to said bracket causing a nonperpendicular positioning of said roller with respect to said handle and causing lateral displacement and stretching of said spring which tends to return the handle and paint applying roller to the normal perpendicular relationship.

4. A paint roller construction comprising a handle having a grip at one end and an eyelet at the other end thereof, a finger extending from said handle between said grip and said eyelet, a U-shaped bracket having holes therein disposed around said eyelet so that the holes are aligned, a bolt disposed through said bracket and eyelet and a wing nut aiiixed on said bolt, a flange on said bracket, a coil spring afiixed at one end to the flange on the bracket and at the other end to the finger on said handle, said coil spring lying closely adjacent and substantially parallel to said handle, a U-shaped axle frame afiixed to said bracket and having a paint applying roller rotatably aflixed on the axle portion thereof, the assembly which includes the bracket, axle frame, and roller nor mally being positioned substantially perpendicular to said handle and being pivotally movable to a non-perpendicular position relative to said handle to laterally displace and stretch the spring so that the assembly is automatically returned to the normal position after displacement therefrom, said wing nut permitting the securing of the bracket in any desired position with respect to said handle so that a predetermined position can be maintained when such position is necessary to cover a substantial area which is ordinarily difficult to cover with a roller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,187,176 Reed June 13, 1916 1,224,724 Dyer May 1, 1917 FOREIGN PATENTS 79,913 Switzerland June 2, 1919 

